King hit for PM as independent puts hand up

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Prime Minister John Howard's campaign took a hit yesterday when Peter King announced he will run as an independent against high-profile Liberal candidate Malcolm Turnbull, who defeated him earlier this year in a bitter preselection for the Sydney seat of Wentworth.

Mr Howard immediately promised to campaign "even harder" for the man who in 1999 accused him of breaking the nation's heart over the republic.

Mr King resisted intense pressure from Mr Howard, NSW Liberal president Chris McDiven and other high-profile Liberals to stay out of the contest for the sake of the Government.

Mr Howard and the NSW party warned that the seat, which takes in some of Sydney's swishest suburbs but also has some less affluent areas, could fall to Labor. The margin is 7.9 per cent.

Mr King, who insisted he made a final decision only yesterday morning, accused Mr Howard of scare tactics in sending a letter to older Wentworth voters claiming that a vote for Mr King would only help Labor.

Mr King said independent polling in the seat showed that if he did not run as an independent "Labor has a serious prospect of winning the seat. So, the real choice for my constituents is to retain Peter King or to hand the seat to Labor."

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Mr Turnbull said that Mr King's decision "very significantly increases the chances of Wentworth going to the Labor Party" and so made it more likely that government was handed to Labor.

Mr Howard met Mr King last week for more than an hour, and senior Liberals including Bill Heffernan, a confidant of the Prime Minister, made a last-ditch effort to change his mind late on Thursday. Senator Heffernan hovered outside Mr King's office while he held a news conference at the Bondi Icebergs club yesterday.

In a statement headed "David vs. Goliath", Mr King, a former NSW Liberal president and son-in-law of one-time National Party leader Ian Sinclair, rejected charges that he was disloyal.

In a shot at Mr Turnbull, he said: "I have never begged the Labor Party for endorsement for a seat - any seat - unlike one of my opponents", a reference to claims that have been made about Mr Turnbull.

Election expert Antony Green said the Wentworth result would now be determined "by who finishes third". "If Labor comes third, King will win. If Turnbull runs third, King will win. If King comes third I'd expect Turnbull will win, but Labor has a real chance if King's preferences leak."

Mr King said it was premature to speak about preferences but he had already indicated he would not be directing his to Labor. "I will be encouraging Liberal voters, if they wish to maximise the Liberal vote, to prefer the Liberal candidate."

Mr King rang Mr Howard at about 8.15am yesterday, telling him of his decision.

Mr King said he had differences with the Government on the environment, the "crisis" in aged care, and human rights. He thought it "a disgrace that we have children in detention".

He said if the election had been held 10 days ago, he would have won it with a slightly reduced majority, according to independent polling.

Mr Howard declined to go into details of the discussion he had had with Mr King.

"Wentworth is not a rock safe Liberal seat in ordinary circumstances and I would simply say to people living in Wentworth, who want the Coalition Government returned and who want the strong economic management of the Coalition Government, that the only way to be certain of that is to vote for Malcolm Turnbull," Mr Howard said.

Mr King, a monarchist, received an immediate blow to his campaign when the chairman of the Australian Monarchist League, Philip Benwell, supported Mr Turnbull.

Mr Benwell said members of the Monarchist League had done everything they could to help Mr King win preselection, but it was time to "look at the bigger picture and get behind and support every Coalition candidate, including Malcolm Turnbull, to save our constitution from what will be an unprecedented attack". Mr King would be hoping to pick up some votes from monarchists antagonistic to Mr Turnbull as a former head of the Australian Republican Movement.

Opposition Leader Mark Latham said Mr King was the latest of a "long line of disaffected Liberals. First there was John Valder, then there was Russell Galt and now Peter King."